Saturday, 29 April 2017

April 25 Meeting and Art Challenge

Art restorer Richard Mitchell gave us an entertaining and informative talk and slide show on the preservation of oil paintings on canvas.

Richard Mitchell

He first told us all about what we paint on and how to prepare it. It is very important to use a properly stretched, sized and primed canvas. If there is not a layer of size (such as rabbit skin glue or gelatin) and ground (primer) between the canvas and the oil paint, the paint will soak into the canvas and destroy it. Once the painting is finished and the painting has dried properly, it should be varnished to protect the paint. Richard answered quite a few questions from the audience, then showed us some slides of works he has restored.

Varnish discolours after a few decades, and then has to be removed and reapplied. Richard showed us a photo of a painting where the old varnish had been removed to reveal the original colours.

He showed us other slides of painting he had restored. One with a bloom on:

Another with cracks all over it.

This one was badly torn.

At the end of his talk, some members had brought some old works to show Richard, and he gave his expert opinion. A fascinating evening, thank you Richard!Our theme for this month was water, and quite a few works were brought along to the meeting for everyone to look at. Here they all are:

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About Constantiaberg Art Society

Upcoming Events

Next Meeting: 30th January 2018 - Presentation by Noleen Cleeve

Art Challenge: Abstract!

*This is not a competition *Bring your drawing or painting relating to the challenge theme along to the meeting and let us all look at your beautiful artwork. We will take some pics of the work and post it on the website (with your permission)Rules of the challenge - NONE (except the usual - no copying other artists' work or photos unless you have written approval)